Boulder police said a woman was gardening outside her home in the 1800 block of Spruce Street at 6:30 p.m. May 3 when a man came up behind her and rubbed his genitals against her backside, simulating a sexual act.

The woman threw weeds at the man to get away, and he made a comment about the woman’s appearance before riding off on a bicycle westbound on Spruce Street.

According to the release, police believe this is the same man who attacked a woman in north Boulder just a few days later. In that case, a woman was jogging through a neighborhood on Vinca Court near Spotswood Place at 5:45 a.m. May 6 when a man rode past her on a bicycle and slapped her buttocks as he went by. The man then got off the bicycle and put the woman in a bear hug and grabbed her in a “sexual manner.”

The woman screamed for help and a nearby resident came outside to help. The man grabbed the woman’s cellphone and then fled east toward 26th Street on his bicycle.

The suspect in both cases is described as a Hispanic male, 20 to 25 years old, standing 6-feet 1-inch tall and weighing 195 to 200 pounds. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black cargo pants in the May 6 incident and was riding a black BMX-style bike with red handlebars.

Denver Sheriff Patrick Firman's resignation this week culminated years of mistrust from deputies and community activists, who said that was the price of filling the position with a man who was never the right person for the job.